News in English     | 18.12.2019. 15:37 |

Guidelines for journalists on reporting violent extremism and terrorism

FENA Vanja Tolj

SARAJEVO, December 18 (FENA) - The Press Council in BiH and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) presented the guidelines for journalists "Reporting on Violent Extremism and Terrorism" today in Sarajevo.

The Guidelines represent a new set of standards for professional reporting on these issues to prevent erroneous reporting and to ensure socially responsible journalism, created as a result of the recommendations of the OSCE September 2018 Conference on Media and Terrorism.

The Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Kathleen Kavalec, emphasized that the Press Council has made a big leap forward by recognizing the need for these guidelines and adopting them as part of a wider set of professional standards.

"Last year at the conference "Media and Terrorism", one of the key recommendations was to develop a set of precise and clear guidelines for journalists to help them report on violent extremism and terrorism related to respecting human rights in a responsible and professional manner. Reporting on these sensitive topics and issues remains a significant challenge for media not just in BiH, but around the world. Lack of due care when informing the public, for example by using sensationalist reporting, can and often does end up inadvertently disseminating terrorist propaganda, spreading fear and intolerance - which can even lead to violence," said Ambassador Kavalec.

The OSCE will organize seminars and workshops with local journalists in cooperation with the Press Council in BiH next year to help them use the Guidelines in practice.

Ljiljana Zurovac, Programme Director at the Press Council in BiH recalls that in September about 40 journalists, editors and media experts from all media in BiH, carefully went through the draft guidelines, provided comments and suggestions in order to make the document as acceptable as possible.

"The value of the document is that it stems from the experience of these people, based on daily reporting on terrorism and violent extremism. Unfortunately, there have been many such situations in BiH in recent years. In such situations, journalists are obliged to report on these topics in the public interest but they also need to be cautious in choosing the right information and how to release it, from which sources and in which moment, in order not to create additional panic and fear among citizens," said Zurovac. 

The guidelines will be presented to media through a brochure already available on the websites of the Press Council in BiH and the OSCE, and next year the brochure will be printed and distributed to journalists at workshops and seminars.

(FENA) A. B.

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